Heidi Cruz Promises College Kids That Her Husband Is Legit

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Heidi Cruz Promises College Kids That Her Husband Is Legit

We’re on the road this week in Iowa, documenting the run-up to the Iowa Caucuses on February 1 and how technology and innovation are changing longstanding traditions in American politics.

"We’ll do as much as we can to bring this event to you," Heidi Cruz told the group of 24 University of Chicago students seated before her on a large, white tour bus.

All political science and public policy students, they had driven in from Chicago to see what the Iowa Caucus is all about. But when they arrived at Senator Ted Cruz's rally at the Elwell Family Food Center in Des Moines Sunday night, less than 24 hours before the Caucus would begin, they found the room filled to capacity and an overly stern fire marshall at the door, refusing to let them in.

So, Cruz's wife Heidi, who has been on the road with the Texas Senator as he campaigns in Iowa, hopped aboard their tour bus to give the students a taste of what they were missing inside. The topic of her brief speech: her husband's authenticity.

"When you listen to Ted speak, I want to challenge you to hear him," she said. "He is genuinely himself."

Of course, Cruz, a Harvard Business School educated investment manager, knew her audience. Polls show that for young people, authenticity is one of the most important qualities in a presidential candidate. But you don't need a poll to know that. Just look at the rabid, young supporter bases that Donald Trump and Senator Bernie Sanders have amassed, thanks largely to the fact that their straight-talking, at times blustery, style is perceived as authenticity.

Cruz has never had that advantage. On stage at the Republican debate Thursday night, Senator Rand Paul, who is himself, a hit with millennials, even spoke about Cruz's "authenticity problem."

Meanwhile, over the weekend, Twitter lit up with messages from Iowans who had received mailers from the Cruz campaign, which appeared to be official government documents telling them they had committed a voting violation by not voting in the past. It said they could caucus on Monday to improve their scores.

Iowa's Secretary of State quickly denounced the mailer as deceptive, casting further doubt about the honesty of the campaign.

Without the appearance of authenticity on his side, Cruz hasn't gained as much traction with young voters as Trump has. Instead, his surge in Iowa has been driven largely by the state's evangelical and conservative religious groups. Which may be why, as some would-be rally attendees shivered outside in the cold, the Senator urged his supporters to pray. "Please, continue this awakening," he bellowed, knees bent, one hand clenched in a fist. "Continue the spirit of revival. Awaken the body of Christ to pull us back from the abyss."

Inside the event space, that line received a resounding round of applause. But on the bus, Mrs. Cruz took a more pragmatic approach, stressing what she says is her husband's longstanding commitment to defend the Constitution above all else.

"One thing I love about Ted is, because of his constitutional grounding and his very, very fine understanding of that incredible document, Ted is able to run this race genuinely on who he is as an economic, social, and national security conservative," she said. "He will govern and is going to be able to govern exactly on what he promises to do, in a way that allows all of us to live in freedom."